The economists temporarily take over the management of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
(Photo: IfW Kiel_Michael Stefan)
Berlin The economists Holger Görg and Stefan Kooths will take over the interim presidency at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy from December. The foundation board of the institute as well as the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the federal government approved the solution on Tuesday. This emerges from a communication that is available to the Handelsblatt. It was foreseeable that the two research directors would first move to the top of the institute. However, the official appointment had dragged on longer than planned.
Görg, who is responsible for the retail department at the institute, and Konjunkturchef Kooths will form a management team together with the managing director Birgit Austen-Bosy. While Görg will be in charge of research activities and collaborations, Kooths will be responsible for external communication and the company’s advisory activities.
There is still no long-term successor for Gabriel Felbermayr, who moved to the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (Wifo) at the end of September. According to Handelsblatt information, the search committee has now decided on a candidate, but negotiations are still ongoing.
According to institute circles, it will probably take until mid-2022 for the official appointment. The IfW announcement speaks of “in the course of the next year”.
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In addition, according to Handelsblatt information, there should be an amendment to the statutes so that the president is no longer solely liable. Instead, IfW managing director Austen-Bosy is to be given permanent equality. Austen-Bosy is then responsible for the financial fortunes, the President for the scientific ones.
Dissatisfaction with a lack of long-term succession
It was clear to those responsible from the start that the IfW would not be able to present a Felbermayr successor within six months. The fact that it was not even possible to make the interim solution official in time is all the more apparent.
“In some authorities, the employees do not feel the pressure that the institute feels to manage a meaningful transition,” says one participant. In addition to the institute, Kiel University, the federal government, the state and the Leibniz Association have a say.
In Kiel, the complex structures are causing increasing concern. Without a strong person at the top, the IfW, which was founded in 1914, threatens to revert to the old days. When the Austrian Felbermayr took over the management position in 2019, the facility was hardly of any importance. The well-connected Felbermayr changed that. With clear articulation to the public as well as to politics, he knew how to convince, economists of all stripes say.
Nobody believes that the old times will break out again under Kooths and Görg. Both are renowned economists. There are no doubts about their qualification for the temporary top position. “They’ll do it well, that’s why I’ll put my hand in the fire,” says a companion. But despite their good reputation, it is clear that a permanent solution is needed as quickly as possible.
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